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I would like to consult the forum wisdom for selecting a riflescope for deer stalking. Any help, pointers or suggestions to avoid are all welcome as this is an area I have little knowledge in albeit a reasonable amount of rifle experience on plate and paper.

 

The rifle I am using is a Sako M75 Varmint in a laminated stock in .308 Win. Its been crewcut and bedded and a Picatinny rail installed to avoid the Optilock system. I know the rifle is a bit heavy for the hill but it shoots very well and its what I took my first red with 10+ years ago with it so I don't want to change and the rifle is like new and IMHO the M75 appears more solid than the 85 and I like the look of the stock thats on mine. The scope that was on it has been long gone (it was a leopold Euro 4-10x40 if I remember correctly.

 

Any suggestions on what I should scope it with? I am thinking about the S&B 8x56 potentially as I have had great experiences with the brand in both work and private use but I'm open to suggestions. I am mindful of not making the overall height to great so I can get a decent cheek weld on the stock. The budget is £5-600 but this can be flexible but don't want to get to daft as I don't use the rifle much. I prefer cm/mil rad and ideally turrets that I can dial in but that seems to up the cost a bit.

 

Hopefully I can get this set up over the summer and see if I can get some guided stalking in this year.

 

The questions are:

 

1. What reticule / or what to avoid.

2. Scope model suggestions, especially in light of the constraints of the rifle set up.

3. Is illuminated reticule worth the extra for stalking and a lot of people seem to use fixed mag scopes, not sure why as it seems potentially limiting but its not my area of expertise.

 

Thank you for your shared wisdom.

Morse

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I use the Sako 85 (.243) with laminate stock and like you say, it is a touch heavy so for that rifle I have a Leupold 6x42 on it. Non illuminated and to be honest, never thought I needed it.

 

I'm just setting up my T3 as an all purpose rifle for range and stalking and I'm going to stick the Delta Titanium on it. Have heard nothing but good reviews about it.

 

https://opticswarehouse.co.uk/product/delta-titanium-2-5-15x56-hd-illuminated-4a-sf-riflescope/

 

To be honest though, 99% of stalkers I talk to would be or are more than happy with the S&B 8x56

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with stalking, low light use can be crucial

I started with a 8 x 56 Hungarian S&B with no issues apart from I found the reticule a little heavy for my personal like

I moved onto a Leupold 8.5 x 25 x 50, mainly because I used the same rifle for target shooting as well, and used that for ten years, however I will admit the light gathering at dusk, even at 8 power could have been better

I have moved my scopes about a bit the last couple of days and will be using a nightforce NSX 5.5 x 22 x56 that preforms better at low light than the leup, helped by the lower mag as well and has an illuminated reticule

That's is my experience to date

If I stalked more often than I do I would no doubt have gone for a European top end scope, which one I have no idea, but lots of stalkers like the Zeiss range I believe

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Thank you for the input. Really appreciate it. They are all good suggestions. I hadn't considered Zeiss so some digging to do on them etc.

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I was introduced to stalking by a pro with 3,000 to 4,000 deer to his credit. His favourite 'scope was a fixed power 6 x 42 by Schmidt & Bender.

 

The 'scope on my 6.5.x 55mm stalking rifle is a 3 - 12 x 50 Schmidt & Bender. (It came with the rifle as a package). It is set at 6x 95% of the time.

 

Don't be lured into buying a 'scope with excessive magnification. Remember that it magnifies your wobble as much as it magnifies the target, and that extra magnification requires larger objective lenses (£££) in order to achieve good twilight performance.

 

maximus otter

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I have your rig, pretty much as described plus mod and rubber ball on the bolt. Does the business very well. With the 1:11 twist and the mag being a bit longer you can load out and get a bit more power in giving more steam on heavy bullets. Very effective on the hill. Heavier? Yes but its about doing the business when you get there not the weight on the walk. Ethical game killing is about accuracy, not all the other stuff kit lovers keep harping on about, so a heavier rifle is going to help with control during and after the shot.

 

On a similar theme, I have a different view from most on scopes. For me they are there to help the shooter make an accurate shot on target not to help me see for another 2 minutes at last light. So I am interested in graduated reticles and/or turrets of some description. I want to be able to reduce the error by holding/dialling most of it out. personally I dial for drop and hold for wind. In a stalking situation I am not trying to be super precise, just rezero effectively and hold a bit. So a number of your points:

 

Variable ? Seems to stay on one power all the time. Useless if the reticle is graduated and is in second focal plane. FFP is great, really needed for a stalking scope? Debatable.

 

Illuminated reticle ? Used it once in 20 years. I don't take shots at last light, mugs game imo.

 

Mag - just for stalking, anything higher than 15x ish is actually a pain in the proverbial. You lose field of view. Ideally 4-14 ish. At that power you can live with a second focal graduated reticle as you only need it to be accurate on the long shots and you are likely to be at 14x then anyway.

 

Brands - Leupold have worked well for me. As have Nightforce. Decent quality, not stupid pricing, glass certainly good enough for me but I am not trying to shoot when I can't really see.

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I have used a 308 as my main stalking rifle for many years. I started out with a fixed 6x42 and it was ok but the magnification and thick reticle became an issue for Roe over 120 yards. I changed the scope for a 2.5-10 x 50 zeiss about 15 years ago and have been delighted with my choice. It is true but hat most of the time it stays on 8 x but there have been times where being able to zoom in a bit more has been really useful (Roe on the hill especially). I would suggest looking for a 2.5-10 or 3-12x50 secondhand. I would expect that you could find one from S&B , Swarovski, Kahles or Zeiss quite easily for your budget. I recently picked up a Gerhardt Nickel Supra 3-12x50 for a lot less than you have and it is a peach! I have had illuminated reticles but never use them so wouldn't bother. Regarding reticles, if you have dial in turrets then go for a matched graduated reticle but otherwise a traditional German number 4 or 4a are optimal in my opinion. For low light a thin reticle is a handicap unless illuminated

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Delta Titanium.

 

Nothing comes even remotely close at the price.

 

Avoid over fussy rets, stick to SFP scopes with decent field of view, good brightness, contrast and resolution. Covered low profile turrets are my preference for a stalking set up.

 

Zero for 100 yards and know your drops for 200 to 250 in case hold over is required. You generally don't get time to faff around with ballistic apps etc. I use a Leupold CRF1600 - B rangefinder, and use it's pre-programmed ballistic apps set up to closely match the drop of my loads, so I know the range and the drop fairly precisely if unsure.

 

Illuminated rets definitely worth it as the light fades and for pure stalking, I prefer a good 4a ret with fine central crosshairs and illuminated fine dot which aids rapid target acquisition and precision.

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Thank you for the inputs on this topic, there is a lot to consider here and look at. When I purchase I will write up if its one of the suggestions here. Thanks.

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